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the research, published in the journal annals of neurology , sought to explore the relationship between the progression of the disease and the inability to get a good night’s sleep through the use of a promising sleeping aid known as suvorexant.
“this is a small, proof-of-concept study,” said brendan lucey , senior author of the study and an associate professor of neurology and director of washington university’s sleep medicine center. “it would be premature for people who are worried about developing alzheimer’s to interpret it as a reason to start taking suvorexant every night. we don’t yet know whether long-term use is effective in staving off cognitive decline and, if it is, at what dose and for whom.
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alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in the world, accounting for 60 to 80 per cent of all cases, according to the alzheimer’s association . more than 747,000 canadians are currently living with the disease or another form of dementia. roughly 65 per cent of people diagnosed with the disease after the age of 65 are women.
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dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca